Both trades I posted are similar in that they both sold some shares and used that cash to for the right to buy an even larger amount of shares. So to give an example, say a trader owns 1M shares of BBRY. They are bullish in the short term (by August 19, 2016 in the actual trade) and think the stock can move. They want to buy some options to speculate on a move occurring. They could just come out of pocket and buy some call options, or in this case, they sold about 15% of the 1M shares they owned or 165K, and used the money they got from it to buy some call options. In the actual trade, the trader sold the 165K shares and bought 4 times that amount, or 660K shares, in the holding of call options. So the additional shares the trader has the right to buy is about 500K, so now they have about 1.5M in total vs, the 1M they started with.
. If BBRY stays flat or goes up, but below $8, this is a losing trade. If BBRY goes up say above $9, the trader is better off with doing this as keeping those 165K shares and NOT buying the options would result in less money at a price of $9 or higher. The second trade is similar in some aspect. Bottom line is they expect BBRY to move quite a bit in about 2 months time from now.

August is before Chen will (likely) get out of hardware. Either this trader thinks they will enter some kind of partnership (or long term IP for hardware?), or get bought out ($15 on the table? Chen could make this public and call a shareholder vote? Maybe Prem is willing to take a 10% haircut by now....)....or Chen folds the cards on hardware this ER - but I don't see that. Maybe there is some inside leak....

I typed in 'blackberry earnings date' on google.ca and this is what came up...

Search Results
BlackBerry Limited is expected* to report earnings on 06/23/2016 before market open. The report will be for the fiscal Quarter ending May 2016. According to Zacks Investment Research, based on 8 analysts' forecasts, the consensus EPS forecast for the quarter is $-0.1.
BlackBerry Limited (BBRY) Earnings Report Date - NASDAQ.comwww.nasdaq.com/earnings/report/bbry

.... from what I recall since following BlackBerry, they typically do their earning in the AM. I am not sure if this viewed as a more powerful time to release their earnings, possibly a tactic of force from back in the day, but like Superfly said, the stock can roll up and down pretty wildly during these calls, as all the info is brought out and spoke to.

A couple earnings ago, I sold some on the 'good' news and then the stock kept going up, and I foolishly bought back, only to have it drop the next day.

So, I'm not sure what my current strategy is, I just hope it's exciting, as there hasn't been much news lately and I am pretty sure priv sales are poor, at least in the consumer space.

Both trades I posted are similar in that they both sold some shares and used that cash to for the right to buy an even larger amount of shares. So to give an example, say a trader owns 1M shares of BBRY. They are bullish in the short term (by August 19, 2016 in the actual trade) and think the stock can move. They want to buy some options to speculate on a move occurring. They could just come out of pocket and buy some call options, or in this case, they sold about 15% of the 1M shares they owned or 165K, and used the money they got from it to buy some call options. In the actual trade, the trader sold the 165K shares and bought 4 times that amount, or 660K shares, in the holding of call options. So the additional shares the trader has the right to buy is about 500K, so now they have about 1.5M in total vs, the 1M they started with.
. If BBRY stays flat or goes up, but below $8, this is a losing trade. If BBRY goes up say above $9, the trader is better off with doing this as keeping those 165K shares and NOT buying the options would result in less money at a price of $9 or higher. The second trade is similar in some aspect. Bottom line is they expect BBRY to move quite a bit in about 2 months time from now.

A lot easier to understand now. Many thanks for taking your time to explain.

[info] Guys, that's E.R times and you will read things you would prefer not.We still request everyone remain civil, friendly and open minded.

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[/info]

Canadian smartphone maker is seen posting a wider loss as shift to software services continues

Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry Ltd. is set to report results for its first quarter of fiscal 2017 before markets open Thursday. A key focus again will be on the company’s mobile-device management software and services business, which has been growing as Chief Executive John Chen’s efforts to shift BlackBerry’s focus away from its roots as a consumer smartphone player continue to take shape.

EARNINGS FORECAST: Analysts expect a loss of 8 cents a share for the quarter ended May 31, according to Thomson Reuters. That would be bigger than both its year-earlier loss of 5 cents a share and its fourth-quarter loss of 3 cents.

REVENUE FORECAST: BlackBerry is expected to report a 28% decline in revenue from a year earlier, to $471 million, according to analysts. Fourth-quarter revenue totaled $464 million.

WHAT TO WATCH:

--SOFTWARE & SERVICES REVENUE: Last quarter, BlackBerry surpassed its target of $500 million in sales from software and services for fiscal 2016. As the company attempts to reinvent itself as a maker of higher-margin secure software and services for governments and businesses, analysts will pay attention to previous guidance that the segment is on track to generate 30% revenue growth this fiscal year. RBC Dominion Securities Inc. expects BlackBerry to report a 25% boost in organic software growth in the latest quarter.

--HANDSET SALES: BlackBerry has said it needs to sell about three million handset devices in a year for that business line to break even. If BlackBerry can’t make its handset division profitable, Mr. Chen has signaled BlackBerry could stop making devices entirely. The company recognized revenue on 600,000 smartphones in the fourth quarter, which was down from 700,000 in the third quarter of fiscal 2016. Analysts expect BlackBerry to report a slight boost in handset sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2017 and are looking for an update on upcoming handset launches.

--OUTLOOK: Any comments on guidance, device sales or upcoming handset launches will be closely parsed. BlackBerry has said it expects to continue to generate positive free cash flow in fiscal 2017.